The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
16
new
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CALLUM PITT – IN THE BALANCE
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LAURA WOLF – SHELF LIFE
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RORY McBRIDE – SONIC LULLABY
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NIALL CONNOLLY – THE PATIENCE OF TREES
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STEVE FORBERT – STREETS OF THIS TOWN: REVISITED
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GLORYHAMMER – RETURN TO THE KINGDOM OF FIFE
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: HALF MOON RUN – SALT
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BEN FOLDS – WHAT MATTERS MOST
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BEACH FOSSILS – BUNNY
SPILL NEWS: BLUE ÖYSTER CULT RETURNS TO FRONTIERS MUSIC SRL | SPECIAL 50th ANNIVERSARY MUSIC PACKAGES SET FOR RELEASE STARTING LATER THIS YEAR
SPILL NEW MUSIC: HANNAH GEORGAS ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM DETAILS
SPILL NEWS: SPEEDY ORTIZ ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘RABBIT RABBIT’ & SHARE NEW SINGLE/VIDEO FOR “YOU S02” | TOUR DATES
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: THE BLUES EMERGENCY – “A LOVE REVOLUTION”
SPILL FEATURE: FIRST MOVEMENT – A CONVERSATION WITH MISTER JOSHOOA
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: ROB CROW & KRAMER – “KEROSENE”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: GISUN – “VEO VEO”
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Month
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
982
Editor Pick
previous article
SPILL BOOK REVIEW: MARTIN AND JO HOLDEN - ABBEY ROAD GRAFFITI
next article
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: LEN MIZZONI - "IT'S YOU ALWAYS BEEN YOU"

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ANDY MACKAY & PHIL MANZANERA – ROXYMPHONY

Andy MacKay & Phil Manzanera

Andy MacKay & Phil Manzanera
Roxymphony
Expression Records

In 2019, Andy MacKay composed and released an album, 3Psalms, and performed the stunning work live, with part of the show a MacKay and Phil Manzanera collaboration titled Roxymphony. Mackay had come up with the idea of performing Roxy Music songs with an orchestra, choir, and standard rock instruments. Together they transformed classic Roxy Music songs. The result is simply beautiful and breathtaking. This album is a souvenir of those shows.

This is a beautifully put together package and can stand comfortably beside any other previous solo works or Roxy Music catalog. Dipping into the Roxy Music songs, MacKay and Manzanera pick some obvious ones (“More Than This”, “Song For Europe”) but they also picked songs that one would not expect to be given this treatment, such as “Love Is The Drug” and “In Every Dreamhome A Heartache”. Yes they are both hits, but one would not necessarily think they would lend themselves to this treatment, and yet they work.

The album opens with “Song For Europe”, which quietly grows as the Owl Parliament Choir comes in “I remember, all those moments”.  It is full of  melancholy and the best way to start the programme. The listener is set for a trip into the past. It is the perfect introduction to the album, featuring lead vocals from Harry Day Lewis. He deserves a great deal of credit for his spot on vocal solos throughout Roxymphony. He makes the songs his own.

MacKay and Manzanera have transformed classic Roxy Music songs into something brand new. The songs have new life and are not so much cover versions, but brand new work from the two. MacKay and Manzanera have played together constantly since Roxy Music. They have played on each other’s solo works and they instinctively know and understand each other.  

Some of the playing on this project is their best ever. Listen to Manzanera’s blistering guitar solo on “In Every Dreamhome A Heartache”, or MacKay’s solo on “More Than This”. It moves one to tears.

The addition of the DVD is brilliant. It is  well filmed, beautifully edited and it sounds fantastic. The bonus tracks are very welcome and as a film it keeps one glued to the screen.

Art rock meets orchestra, and with Roxymphony MacKay and Manzanera have created one of their best ever albums.



Andy MacKay Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016

Phil Manzanera Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

* Mandatory Field

Check your inbox or spam folder now (just in case!) to confirm your subscription.

Editor Pick
Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ANDY MACKAY & PHIL MANZANERA – ROXYMPHONY

Author

Aaron Badgley

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
9.9
9.0
Total Spill Rating
9.9
Total Fan Rating
5 ratings
You have rated this
Album Reviews
3psalmsalbum reviewalbum reviewsandy mackayexpression recordsphil manzaneraroxy musicroxymphony
3psalms, album review, album reviews, andy mackay, expression records, phil manzanera, roxy music, roxymphony
About the Author
Aaron Badgley
Born and raised in Whitby, Aaron discovered music through his love of The Beatles. This led to a career in radio, writing for various publications, and ultimately a radio show about The Beatles (Beatles Universe), which ran for over four years. When not immersed in music, Aaron enjoys spending time with the loves of his life -- his wife Andrea, and daughters Emily and Linda (all of whom have an intense love of music too).
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewalbum reviewsandy mackay
 
8.0
Callum Pitt
10

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CALLUM PITT – IN THE BALANCE

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 2, 2023
Callum Pitt In The Balance Kaleidoscope Music Very often, it is quite a challenge for artists releasing a debut album, not only to come up with right music, but also with a title that would describe that music the best. Newcastle, England [...]
 
9.0
Laura Wolf

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LAURA WOLF – SHELF LIFE

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 2, 2023
Laura Wolf Shelf Life Whatever’s Clever Back in the late 90s folktronica was all the rage. But somehow, and for whatever reason, the whole shebang seemed to have been lost, with or without translation, with most of the artists going one [...]
 
8.0
Rory McBride

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RORY McBRIDE – SONIC LULLABY

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 2, 2023
Rory McBride Sonic Lullaby Independent Keeping things short and sweet just might be a perfect way for an artist to introduce themself and their music to the world. That is exactly the route 29-yr-old American singer/songwriter/poet Rory Mc Bride [...]
 
9.0
Niall Connolly
10

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NIALL CONNOLLY – THE PATIENCE OF TREES

by Aaron Badgley on June 2, 2023
Niall Connolly The Patience Of Trees C.U. Records Niall Connolly was born in the suburbs of Cork, Ireland but is now based in New York City. Over the years he has made a career as a folk-rock artist. He is back with a new studio album, The [...]
 
8.0
Steve Forbert

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STEVE FORBERT – STREETS OF THIS TOWN: REVISITED

by Aaron Badgley on June 2, 2023
Steve Forbert Streets Of This Town: Revisited Blue Rose Music Steve Forbert has been making records for a very long time, and in the 1970s, he shifted from his folk roots and incorporated more of a pop sound. He was once given the label ‘The New [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CALLUM PITT – IN THE BALANCE
8.0
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LAURA WOLF – SHELF LIFE
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RORY McBRIDE – SONIC LULLABY
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NIALL CONNOLLY – THE PATIENCE OF TREES
9.0
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STEVE FORBERT – STREETS OF THIS TOWN: REV...
8.0

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

* Mandatory Field

Check your inbox or spam folder now (just in case!) to confirm your subscription.

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Month
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL NEWS: RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND ADD DATES TO SPRING 2023 TOUR
7842
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: METALLICA – 72 SEASONS
3653
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JETHRO TULL – RÖKFLÖTE
1536
 
SPILL FEATURE: LOVE THAT WE WERE LIVING – A CONVERSATION WITH JUSTIN HAYWARD OF THE MOODY BLUES
1385
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DELERIUM – SIGNS
1230
 
SPILL NEW MUSIC: EMMA ARMSTRONG – “MAYBE PROBABLY NEVER”
1187
 
SPILL FEATURE: RECOLLECTION IN TRANQUILITY – A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN FOXX
846
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE KINKS – THE JOURNEY – PART 1
727
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WHO – THE WHO WITH ORCHESTRA: LIVE AT WEMBLEY
705
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DAMNED – DARKADELIC
640
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GLORYHAMMER – RETURN TO THE KINGDOM OF FIFE
588
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: HALF MOON RUN – SALT
528
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CROWN LANDS – FEARLESS
517
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES